The present embodiments relate to wireless communications systems and, more particularly, to the Long Term Evolution of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) for a wireless communication system.
Wireless communications are prevalent in business, personal, and other applications, and as a result the technology for such communications continues to advance in various areas. One such advancement includes the use of spread spectrum communications, including that of code division multiple access (CDMA) which includes wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) cellular communications. In CDMA communications, user equipment (UE) (e.g., a hand held cellular phone, personal digital assistant, or other) communicates with a base station, where typically the base station corresponds to a “cell.” CDMA communications are by way of transmitting symbols from a transmitter to a receiver, and the symbols are modulated using a spreading code which consists of a series of binary pulses. The code runs at a higher rate than the symbol rate and determines the actual transmission bandwidth. In the current industry, each piece of CDMA signal transmitted according to this code is said to be a “chip,” where each chip corresponds to an element in the CDMA code. Thus, the chip frequency defines the rate of the CDMA code. WCDMA includes alternative methods of data transfer, one being frequency division duplex (FDD) and another being time division duplex (TDD, where the uplink and downlink channels are asymmetric for FDD and symmetric for TDD. Another wireless standard involves time division multiple access (TDMA) apparatus, which also communicate symbols and are used by way of example in cellular systems. TDMA communications are transmitted as a group of packets in a time period, where the time period is divided into time slots so that multiple receivers may each access meaningful information during a different part of that time period. In other words, in a group of TDMA receivers, each receiver is designated a time slot in the time period, and that time slot repeats for each group of successive packets transmitted to the receiver. Accordingly, each receiver is able to identify the information intended for it by synchronizing to the group of packets and then deciphering the time slot corresponding to the given receiver. Given the preceding, CDMA transmissions are receiver-distinguished in response to codes, while TDMA transmissions are receiver-distinguished in response to time slots.
Since CDMA and TDMA communications are along wireless media, then the travel of those communications can be affected in many ways, and generally these effects are referred to as the channel effect on the communication. For example, consider a transmitter with a single antenna transmitting to a receiver with a single antenna. The transmitted signal is likely reflected by objects such as the ground, mountains, buildings, and other things that it contacts. In addition, there may be other signals that interfere with the transmitted signal. Thus, when the transmitted communication arrives at the receiver, it has been affected by the channel effect. Consequently, the originally-transmitted data is more difficult to decipher due to the added channel effect. Various approaches have been developed in an effort to reduce or remove the channel effect from the received signal so that the originally-transmitted data is properly recognized. In other words, these approaches endeavor to improve signal-to-interference+noise ratio (SINR), thereby improving other data accuracy measures (e.g., bit error rate (BER), frame error rate (FER), and symbol error rate (SER)).
One approach to improve SINR is referred to in the art as antenna diversity, which refers to using multiple antennas at the transmitter, receiver, or both. For example, in the prior art, a multiple-antenna transmitter is used to transmit the same data on each antenna where the data is manipulated in some manner differently for each antenna. One example of such an approach is space-time transmit diversity (“STTD”). In STTD, a first antenna transmits a block of two input symbols over a corresponding two symbol intervals in a first order while at the same time a second antenna transmits, by way of example, the complex conjugates of the same block of two symbols and wherein those conjugates are output in a reversed order relative to how they are transmitted by the first antenna and the second symbol is a negative value relative to its value as an input.
Another approach to improve SINR combines antenna diversity with the need for higher data rate. Specifically, a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system with transmit diversity has been devised, where each transmit antenna transmits a distinct and respective data stream. In other words, in a MIMO system, each transmit antenna transmits symbols that are independent from the symbols transmitted by any other transmit antennas for the transmitter and, thus, there is no redundancy either along a single or with respect to multiple of the transmit antennas. The advantage of a MIMO scheme using distinct and non-redundant streams is that it can achieve higher data rates as compared to a transmit diversity system.
Communication system performance demands in user equipment, however, are often dictated by web access. Applications such as news, stock quotes, video, and music require substantially higher performance in downlink transmission than in uplink transmission. Thus, MIMO system performance may be further improved for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) by Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) transmission. With OFDM, multiple symbols are transmitted on multiple carriers that are spaced apart to provide orthogonality. An OFDM modulator typically takes data symbols into a serial-to-parallel converter, and the output of the serial-to-parallel converter is considered as frequency domain data symbols. The frequency domain tones at either edge of the band may be set to zero and are called guard tones. These guard tones allow the OFDM signal to fit into an appropriate spectral mask. Some of the frequency domain tones are set to values which will be known at the receiver, and these tones are termed pilot tones or symbols. These pilot symbols can be useful for channel estimation at the receiver. An inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) converts the frequency domain data symbols into a time domain waveform. The IFFT structure allows the frequency tones to be orthogonal. A cyclic prefix is formed by copying the tail samples from the time domain waveform and appending them to the front of the waveform. The time domain waveform with cyclic prefix is termed an OFDM symbol, and this OFDM symbol may be upconverted to an RF frequency and transmitted. An OFDM receiver may recover the timing and carrier frequency and then process the received samples through a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The cyclic prefix may be discarded and after the FFT, frequency domain information is recovered. The pilot symbols may be recovered to aid in channel estimation so that the data sent on the frequency tones can be recovered. A parallel-to-serial converter is applied, and the data is sent to the channel decoder. Just as with HSDPA, OFDM communications may be performed in an FDD mode or in a TDD mode.
While the preceding approaches provide steady improvements in wireless communications, the present inventors recognize that still further improvements may be made, including by addressing some of the drawbacks of the prior art. Examples of these improvements addressed by embodiments of the present invention include improved frequency diversity to reduce inter-cell interference, improved power control, and improved control information. Indeed, to address some of these issues, the present inventors described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/230,003, filed Aug. 28, 2002, entitled, “MIMO HYBRID-ARQ USING BASIS HOPPING”, and hereby incorporated herein by reference. In this referenced application, multiple independent streams of data are adaptively transmitted with a variable basis selected to improve signal quality. Further, a receiver is provided that decodes the transmitted signals including the multipaths therein. While this improvement therefore provides various benefits as discussed in the referenced application, the inventors also recognize still additional benefits that may be achieved with such systems. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments described below are directed toward these benefits as well as improving upon the prior art.